Calls Me Home
by Sally White
Summary: Armin Arlert is a boy who has searched his whole life for something–or someone–he knows is missing in his life. Annie Leonhardt has been searching for just one person her whole life. A chance encounter makes them realize that they are the ones the other needs. Memories will be shared and questions answered, but one remains: Will they get to keep each other this time around?
1. Prologue: In This Famous Good Bye

**Pairing: AruAni**

 **Rating: T (for language and some violence later on)**

 **Setting: Modern Day Reincarnation AU (at least it will be when the next chapter comes out)**

 **Summary: Armin Arlert is a boy who has searched his whole life for something–or someone–he knows is missing in his life. Annie Leonhardt has been searching for just one person her whole life. A chance encounter makes them realize that they are the ones the other needs. Memories will be shared and questions answered, but one remains: Will they get to keep each other this time around?**

 **Notes: I just finished the anime tonight, though I've read up as much as I can about the characters. I've also been reading fanfiction of the fandom for the past like month. So if anyone is terribly OOC, I apologize now. This idea has been with me for a few weeks now, but I didn't want start writing it until I had finished the anime. I am going to start the manga soon, I just wanted to write this while it was fresh in my mind. I really hope you guys like it!**

 **Calls Me Home**  
 **Prologue: In This Famous Good Bye**

"She's _out."_

He had heard it in a whisper, a rumor, and it had immediately set his heart pounding and his mind whirling. Could it be true? Could she really be free of her self-confined prison, of her own frozen time-lapse? It almost sounded too good to be true...but, then again, he had learned to believe in miracles in the last few years. After all, no one had ever thought that Humanity would have a chance before the Rogue Titan had appeared before them.

So really...would it really be so hard to believe that another miracle had happened? That the Female Titan had finally broken herself out of her crystal?

He had set off in finding out the truth as soon as he had heard, asking anyone who would speak about it. All of them said that same thing.

It was true.

She had come out of the crystal at last.

And he knew right away that he had to speak with her, to see her and ask her why...why had she come out now? After nearly a year of her being in her self-incasement. Why had she come out at all? She had to know that they wouldn't let her live...she had killed too many, done too much damage to the city when she had transformed. They would kill her...and it was a thought that he could not bear to think about...

For, even after all the harm she had caused, he still cared about her...more than he should have, probably...

* * *

"You have ten minutes. You are not allowed to give the Female Titan anything, and you are not allowed to take anything from her. And you are to report any information she might reveal immediately. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir, I understand."

Armin followed the guard down the tunnel towards the prison cell where he had been told they were keeping Annie. He could feel his hands beginning to tremble, and he balled them into fists at his sides. It had taken nearly a week of sucking up and promises to get Erwin to let him see the girl considered to be one of their greatest enemies. But the commander had finally agreed to let him see her, though he had only been granted a total of ten minutes.

But ten minutes was all he would need.

He could sense when they were getting close, because the guard's stance changed. He saw his brows furrow and his shoulders tense. Armin could practically feel the hatred coming off of the man, though he couldn't say he blamed him. Annie had caused plenty of damage, and hurt many loved ones. She had betrayed them all, betrayed all of Humanity by trying to take Eren.

But...surely she'd had a good reason to do what she did...right?

The guard lifted his lamp as he put the key into the lock for the prison. The door was yanked open and the guard stood aside, a grim look on his face. "Good luck to you, though I don't expect much will happen. She hasn't said a word since she arrived her."

The blond almost made a comment about the stuffy interior and how no one would want to say anything if they were here, but he figured it would be innappropriate, so he just kept his mouth shut. He didn't want the guard to kick him out before his ten minutes were up.

Armin stepped inside the cell, trying not to jump when the door was slammed behind him. He gripped the lanturn in his own hand and held it up high, looking around the room. It was dark and dank, and smelled of mold and mildew. He suspected it hadn't been cleaned in a while. He wondered how much of a fit Levi would have thrown if he had known...he shook the notion out of his head. He had to focus. He only had so much time.

He turned his head and his breath caught in his throat, his eyes going wide. He could feel his hands starting to shake once more, though he did his best to hide this fact.

Not that it would have mattered. She wasn't looking at him anyways.

There she sat, the Female Titan herself, Annie Leonhardt. She sat on the cot that was in the prison cell, her arms and legs in chains, head down, her hair blocking his view of her eyes...those ice-colored eyes that he had found himself missing more than he ought to. She was dirty, and it was clear that they hadn't given her a change of clothes since she had broken herself out of the crystal. Her Military Police jacket was in tatters, the belts that would have held her 3DMG broken and laying in pieces on the floor.

When the light was shined on her, she slowly lifted her head to look at him. He held his breath as he finally got to look at her beautiful eyes once more. But...he felt his heart sink as he held her gaze. She looked so...defeated. Broken. It was something he had never seen from her before...and he found himself thinking that it didn't suit her one bit.

He watched as recognition slowly flooded over her face, her eyes lighting up. "Armin..."

"Hello, Annie." He gulped silently, feeling his heart starting to speed up rapidly in his chest once more. He hated that she had this affect on him, especially after what she had done. But he couldn't help it...she had always been special in his eyes.

Annie blinked slowly before dropping her gaze down the dirty floor once more, her hair hiding her eyes once more. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to talk to you." He took a few steps towards her, keeping the lanturn held high. He knelt down in front of her, setting the lanturn down on the cot beside her. He looked up at her, his eyes searching hers through her hair. But she was refusing to look at him...

Not that he could blame her. He was the reason she'd had to crystalize, after all. He was the one who had told Erwin that he suspected that Annie was the Female Titan. It came as no surprise to him that she wouldn't trust him now...

He slowly reached out, taking one of her hands in his. The tiny pale hand tensed in his grip, and he turned it over to look at her palm. For such a strong woman, she had such tiny hands...he turned her hand over to look at the back of it and frowned deeply when he noticed the scars there. They must have been formed before she had been able to shift...otherwise they would have healed.

"Armin."

His head snapped up to look at her, his eyes going wide when he realized how strange his actions must have seemed to her. He quickly dropped her hand, though he stayed kneeled down in front of her. He noted how the hand he had been holding stayed in the air for a moment before being pulled back up into her lap.

He looked up at her, relief spreading in his chest as he noticed that she was finally looking at him. Those eyes...they always seemed to see right through him, pierce his soul and looking right into his heart. Those eyes had been the main reason he had felt so intimidated by her back when they had been trainees. But...they had also been the reason that she had intrigued him so much. He had always found himself wishing to know the secrets held behind those intense eyes.

And now those eyes...those very eyes that captivated him so...were going to be gone from the world.

"Why did you come out?" he found himself whispering, unable to contain his emotions anymore. "Annie, you had to have known that they wouldn't let you live...they're going to sentence you to death!" His hands starting to tremble once more, and he balled them into fists once more. "Why did you come out? Surely it would have been safer for you if you had stayed in the crystal...so why?" He looked up at her, his own blue eyes intense. On impulse, he reached out to take her hands in his to make her look at him. It achieved the desired affect, as her eyes flew to his face, the ice-colored orbs wide. Whether it was from his words or his touch, he wasn't sure. But that didn't matter right now.

He just...he wanted to know...

 _"Why did you do it?"_

For a long few moments the room was quiet, and he feared that he pushed too much on her too soon, made her close up herself. Then a whisper blew past his ears, the words barely on a breath, and he would have missed them if he hadn't been so focused on her.

 _"I wanted to be reborn..."_

Armin blinked at her, his mind trying to process what she had just said in a logical sense. "I...I don't understand. What do you mean-?"

"Time's up, kid."

The blond boy's head snapped around as he heard the door open, and two guards stepped into the room. The one who had led him down here was standing at the door.

Armin frowned deeply, letting go Annie's hands and standing up, unconciously putting himself between her and them. "I was told that I had ten minutes. I know I'm entitled to at least five more minutes!"

The guard at the door shrugged. "Sorry, kid, boss's orders."

One of the two guards who had stepped into the cell grabbed his arm and started to drag him away, as the other stepped towards Annie. Armind didn't miss how she shrank back just a tad, such a little amount that anyone else wouldn't have noticed it.

But he wasn't anyone else...

"No! Let me go!" He tried to tear away from the guard, but his grip on the boy was firm. Armin reached out to the blonde woman, his blue eyes wide with desperation. "Annie! I know you had a good reason for all of this! I still believe in you!"

"Come on, Arlert," the guard huffed at him, starting to drag him down the hall.

"Armin!" He heard her call and snapped his head to look. She had somehow managed to make it to the door, gripping the bars in her hands and looking at him, her own ice-colored eyes wide. "Armin! Listen to me!"

But he never got to hear what she had to say as he was dragged away, her words lost in the darkness of the prison...

* * *

Another week passed, and no matter how much he pleaded and negotiated, Erwin refused to let Armin see Annie again. While it upset him that he couldn't see her again, he understood the commander's reasoning. Annie was going to be put to death, and it was going to hit him hard. It was better to not let him get close to her once more.

But he still had so many questions...there was still so much that he didn't know about the girl they called the Female Titan...

And now he never would.


	2. Chapter 1: But I Don't Ask Why

Pairing: AruAni

Rating: T (for language and violence)

Setting: Modern Day Reincarnation AU (this chapter really is, I promise)

Summary: Armin Arlert is a boy who has searched his whole life for something–or someone–he knows is missing in his life. Annie Leonhardt has been searching for just one person her whole life. A chance encounter makes them realize that they are the ones the other needs. Memories will be shared and questions answered, but one remains: Will they get to keep each other this time around?

Notes: I wrote the first part of this chapter this morning before I had to go to work, and I almost put off writing the rest until tomorrow, but I forced myself to write it after I got home. I'm really not that pleased with it, but I am proud of the first and last parts of this chapter. I can't think of any other way to write it, so here it is. I really hope it's not too disappointing.

 **Calls Me Home  
** **Chapter 1: So Many Questions But I Don't Ask Why**

"Who's Annie?"

The blond jumped at the question, turning his head to stare at his roommate. "What?"

"Who's Annie?" the other boy repeated, his green eyes wide with curiosity. "You kept mumbling her name in your sleep last night."

"Did I?..." Armin frowned and reached up a hand to run through his hair, trying to think up a good answer. But he just came up blank. "I don't remember what I was dreaming about..."

Eren sat in his computer chair backwards, his arms folded on the backrest of the chair. "That doesn't answer my question." He grinned, his eyes twinkling with mischief. He clasped his hands to together and mocked his friend, "Annie, oh Annie~"

The blue-eyed blond found his face becoming hot with the bright blush that was spreading, and he chucked a pillow at his friend. "Shut up, oh my god."

Eren laughed as he easily dodged the pillow, his eyes still shining. Armin had always had terrible aim. "Seriously, you kept moaning her name over and over, so I figure she must be pretty important to you." He rested his chin on his arms, eyebrows raised with expectance. "So spill. Who is she?"

Armin sighed and leaned back against the headrest of his dorm room bed. "Honestly, I have no idea. I don't know anyone named Annie." But despite knowing that what he was saying was true, he couldn't help but notice how the name seemed so familiar on his tongue...

"You've probably been listening to that one song too much," Eren offered, turning the chair around so he was facing his laptop, beginning to type away on it. "You know, the one where they keep saying the name Annie over and over. It's really fuckin' catchy, too, always gets stuck in my head."

"I don't think I've heard it in a long time," the blond boy mused, folding his arms behind his head.

"They always play it in the common room," Eren said, still typing on his keyboard. "Ugh, this essay is gonna take me forever to write."

"That's what you get for waiting until the last minute." Armin laughed, bringing one hand down to scratch at his chest.

Instead of giving him a proper answer Eren just reached one hand back to flip his roommate off, which in turn just made the blue-eyed boy laugh. The hand was then brought around to grab a cellphone off of his desk. "I better text Mikasa, let her know I can't do dinner tonight. You mind if she comes over?"

"You know I don't," Armin said, staring up at the ceiling now. "Just don't make out with her all night, 'kay? You need to actually get this essay done."

He was flipped off once again before the sounds of typing filled the room. He closed his eyes and sighed, trying to remembe what his dream from the night before had been about. He remembered waking up in a cold sweat, his throat aching like he had spent the whole night screaming. But...that was it. Beyond that he had no idea what had actually happened in his dream.

But from what Eren had said, he had been saying the name Annie in his sleep...he wondered if it meant anything...

"Hey, you okay?"

Armin blinked open his eyes, lowing his gaze to look at his friend once more. Eren had turned his chair back around, arms resting on the back. "You haven't been yourself lately," the brunett continued, his green eyes filled with worry. "And I know you haven't been sleeping too good, either, 'cuz you keep waking me up. Is something going on?"

 _Yes,_ Armin wanted to say, _everything is wrong._

For as long as he could remember, Armin had felt like there was something missing in his life. When he was a child he was easily able to forget about it, but it got harder as he got older. He remembered constantly asking in middle and high school if there was any homework he had missed, thinking that maybe that was it. But it had gotten worse when he had gotten into college. He always felt like there was something he was supposed to do, something important. But...he had no idea what that something was.

"I'm fine," he said, closing his yes and leaning his head back on the headrest. "I've just been stressed out, what with midterms coming up and all."

"Are you sure? Because you know you can talk to me if there's something going on, right?"

Of course he knew that. He and Eren had been friends since they were kids, he was his best friend. But...this was something he had to figure out on his own, he knew it. He could feel it in his gut.

"I know. And thanks, but I'm fine." Armin opened his eyes to smile at his friend, trying to reassure him. "I just need to get through midterms then I'm sure I'll be able to sleep again."

Eren sighed, and for a moment Armin was afraid he would keep pushing him. But the brunett just nodded slowly. "Alright. But I'm here if you need to talk." Then he turned his chair back around to continue writing his essay.

The blond sighed silently, his eyes trailing back up to the ceiling. _Annie...who are you?_

"Can anyone tell me the four classes of Titans?"

Armin glanced up from his notes at Professor Hanji, who was pacing slowly at the front of the classroom. He was one of the few in the class who actually paid attention in Titan Studies. Most of the people who took this class expected it to be easy. Everyone knew about the Titans and the history of the Walled Cities, they had learned it since elementary school. But the professor liked to try to challenge what they knew about the Titans with new facts and theories.

The brunette women looked around the group and pointed at a random student. "Connie!"

The bald boy's head raised suddenly, blinking sleepy eyes at her. "Wha?"

"What are the four classes of Titans?" she repeated the question, a grin on the edge of her lips.

"Uh..." Armin could see Connie starting to sweat a little from the professor's questioning.

"How about you start paying attention in my class, hm?" Hanji chuckled and pointed to Armin. "Arlert! What are the four classes of Titans?"

Armin sighed and flipped through his notes, finding the ones about the subject matter that his teacher was talking about. "The 3-6 meters, 7 meters, 8-14 meter, and 15 meter."

"Very good." The professor went on talking and Armin flipped back to the page he had been on, writing down notes every now and then. But right now...he was having trouble paying attention. This class was usually very easy for him to be interested in, since his major was history. Right now, however...his mind wandered back to what Eren had said the night before, about the name he mumbled in his sleep.

Annie...who was she?

"...and what made the Female Titan so different from other 14-meter class Titans?"

Armin's head flew up when he heard that, his blue eyes wide. He didn't know why, but...whenever the Female Titan was mentioned he always got more interested. He had always had this obsesion with her, wanting to know more and more about her. Not much was known about her, after all.

"She had boobs!" one guy in the class called out, and everyone but Armin and the professor burst into laughter. Armin clenched his fists under the table, unable to understand why he felt so angry at them dehumanizing her like that.

Hanji waited for the laughter to die down before clearing her throat, giving them all a sharp look that immediately made them all go quiet. "Yes, Reiner, that is one of the things that stood out about her. Unlike other Titans who had no gender specifics, the Female Titan was named for her feminine physique." She looked around. "Can anyone else tell me what was unique about her?"

Armin looked around at the other people in the class then slowly raised his hand.

"Yes, Armin?" The professor smiled at him, having expected this.

"She could harden certain parts of her skin," he said slowly, grabbing another notebook the flip through it. It was the notebook devoted to his notes about the Female Titan. "She was more intelligent than the other Titan Shifters, more in control of her powers-"

"Dude, you're so obsessed with her," Reiner whined from his desk, his chin leaned on his hand. "It's a little creepy."

Armin frowned and looked down at his notebook, flipping through more of the pages to find the sketches he'd done of her. Maybe they were right, but..."At least I'm passing the class."

Reiner frowned and started to stand up, but Hanji slapped her hand down on her desk. "Boys! Not in my class." She cleared her throat and went on. "Can anyone ELSE tell me what was unique about the Female Titan?"

"She had a name."

Everyone looked at Armin in surprise, and for a moment he didn't understand why-until he realized what had come out of his mouth. His eyes went wide and he almost slapped his hand over his mouth, but he realized that that would not help him in this instance.

Hanji adjusted her glasses on her face, intrigued by the boy's words. "Oh? Do tell, Arlert. What is the name of the Female Titan?"

Before he could even think the name came out of his mouth, and once again ti felt so familiar on his tongue that it stumped him. How did he know this name? How did he know this? How?

"Annie. Her name was Annie."


	3. Chapter 2: But Without You I'm Alone

Pairing: AruAni

Rating: T (for language and violence)

Setting: Modern Day Reincarnation AU

Summary: Armin Arlert is a boy who has searched his whole life for something–or someone–he knows is missing in his life. Annie Leonhardt has been searching for just one person her whole life. A chance encounter makes them realize that they are the ones the other needs. Memories will be shared and questions answered, but one remains: Will they get to keep each other this time around?

Notes: This chapter took way too long for me to write, and I only have excuses for it taking me so long. I'm not entirely pleased with how it came out, but it needed to be written and now it is. This also came out a lot longer than I originally planned for it to be. But overall I'm glad it came out how it did and the next chapter is one that I've been wanting to write since I first came up with this story idea.

 **Calls Me Home  
** **Chapter 2: But Without You I'm Alone**

As soon as class was over, Armin packed up and headed back to his dorm room, his mind in a whirl. How did he know that? How did he know the name of the Female Titan? And he was sure that he was right, he just knew it. He didn't know how, or why, but he just...did.

 _Annie..._

Was she the same Annie that he had been talking about in his sleep? Did he dream of her? He wished he knew for sure...he would have to try harder to remember his dreams, try to figure out this mystery. He had to know...he just had to, it was haunting him.

He arrived at the dorm building and headed to his room, his mind still reeling from the information he had revealed in class. He unlocked the door of his room and opened it, only to wish he hadn't.

Eren and Mikasa were locked in a passionate embrace on Eren's dorm room bed. His roommate was on top of the girl, their lips locked and his hand starting to creep up her shirt. And from the looks of it she had no intention of stopping him.

Armin yelped in surprise, his face turning bright red. "Wow, okay!"

The two on the bed immediately sprang apart, both of their faces a deep scarlet. Mikasa tried to smooth out her clothes while Eren had to adjust his pants where he had obviously been...affected by the make-out session. "Armin!" The other boy cleared his throat, running a hand through his dark hair. "I-I thought you would still be in class."

"We got out early," the blond stated, refusing to look at his two best friends. This wasn't the first time he had accidentally walked in on them, though he was grateful that they at least still had their clothes on this time. He huffed and gripped the pack slung over his shoulder tightly, trying to forget the glimpse of Mikasa's boobs he'd caught before he had cried out.

Eren looked over at his girlfriend before looking back over at Armin. "Look, man, I'm sorry, we didn't think you were gonna be back for awhile-"

Armin lifted a hand, not wanting to hear more. This was awkward enough as it was. "It's okay, really. I should really know to knock by now." He shuffled awkwardly, still unsure what to do or say at this point. "I'm, ah...I'm just gonna go to the library. I have to study for midterms."

"You don't have to leave," Mikasa said quietly, her dark eyes full of guilt. "This is your room, we could just go to mine."

"Nah, it's fine, really," Armin waved at her, giving her a forced smile. "It'll be quieter in the library, anyways. You guys, uh, have fun." He immediately regretted saying it when he saw them look at each other and flush. Without further fuss he turned and headed back down the hall, closing the door behind him.

"I told you it was a bad idea," he heard Mikasa say, only to be answered with a, "Shut up!" from her boyfriend. He couldn't help but chuckle as he headed back towards the campus. As much as he hated walking in on them, he was glad that they were together. They were good for each other. 

* * *

Luckily for Armin, the library was pretty much deserted after 7pm on a Thursday. He chose to sit at one of the tables in the comfiest chair he could find. He took out his books and his laptop, logging into the school WiFi and going to a search engine. He opened up his books and did his homework, looking up answers he was unsure about on his laptop. But he was done with his homework all too soon, leaving him with nothing to do.

He looked at the time on his cellphone and sighed, noting how it had only been an hour. He didn't want to head back to his room yet, Mikasa was sure to still be there and he didn't want to walk in on her and Eren again. Truly, he was happy for his best friends, but being the third wheel had gotten very old, very fast.

Armin sighed and slumped down on the table, his arms stretched across it. He closed his eyes and rested his chin on the table, letting his mind wander until it focused once more on the most important matter to his mind.

 _Annie...who are you?_

"Armin?"

The boy opened his blue eyes, blinking as he sat up and turn his head to see who was speaking to him. "Connie. What are you doing here?"

His bald classmate was standing by the table he was sitting at, one hand at his side holding a bag and the other rubbing the back of his head as he gave his friend a sheepish grin. "I actually fell asleep trying to study for Professor Hanji's midterm. I just woke up."

Armin sighed and shook his head, rolling his eyes a little. It figured. "You should really try to sleep in your bed, dude. Then maybe you'd stop falling asleep in her class."

"I know, I know," Connie agreed, taking a seat across from Armin. "Just-ugh. I know most everything we learn in that class. I mean, we've been hearing about the history of the cities and the Titans since we were kids!"

"But she offers up a lot of information that we didn't learn as kids," the blond-haired boy countered, turning back to his laptop to try to type something into the search engine. Once he found what he was looking for he turned it around to show the bald boy. "Like this. How the Titans actually came to be, how humans were the ones responsible for their existence. They never told us that in high school!"

Connie made a face and turned the laptop back around, pushing it towards Armin. "Yeah, yeah, I get it. I still don't see why it's such a big deal. I mean, it's not like the Titans are ever going to come back." He shrugged, resting his elbows on the table and putting his chin in his hands.

Armin just shook his head and back up the search engine, trying to think of something else to look up.

"Hey, Armin..."

He looked across the table at his friend. "What is it?"

"That thing you said in class today..." Connie swallowed and glanced away. "How...how did you know that? The name of the Female Titan."

Armin felt himself freeze for a moment, his hands going still on the keyboard. He closed his eyes and swallowed hard, trying to think of something to say. "I...I honestly don't know. I don't even know if I'm right. I just...said it." He slowly shook his head, opening his eyes to stare at his friend. "I'm probably not even right. I just...I wanted everyone to stop talking about her like she wasn't a person. Like she wasn't real."

"She was a Titan," Connie said quietly, running his fingers over the surface of the table. "She killed a lot of people, Armin."

"But they never found out why!" His hands turned to fists on the keyboard, and he had to swallow hard to keep back the nasty words building up in his throat. This happened every time the crimes of the Female Titan was brought up. "Yes, she killed many, but she had to have had a good reason. No one does that sort of thing with no intent behind it."

"Maybe she just liked killing." The bald boy strugged, scratching behind his ear.

Armin quickly shook his head, swallowing once more. He had to remain rational about this, he couldn't just go off on one of his tangents. Not after what had happened in class. "I like to believe that people are better than that, that there are explanations for the things people do."

"Dude, it's in the past. Literally." Connie stood up, grabbing his bag. "There's no reason to defend her, y'know. She doesn't exist anymore." He patted Armin on the shoulder, giving him a grin. "Hey, you should come hang out with me and Sasha some time! We'll have a good time." He walked away, waving. "See ya in class."

"See you," Armin called back before turning back to his laptop. He ran a hand through his hair, frowning deeply.

He knew that Connie was right. It was in the past, WAY in the past. He had no reason to feel so attached to someone who didn't even exist, who only existed in their history books. But...he did. He was so attached, he did every report, every essay they'd had about the Titans on the Female Titan during primary school. He had done hours of independent research, scouring over every book and internet source to try learn as much as he could about her. Every time someone talked about her and what she had done, he always felt this need to jump to her defense.

He sighed and covered his face in his hands, trying to calm himself down. This had to be what it was like to be insane, pining over someone who had only existed in history. HE was insane...but he couldn't stop.

"How did I know that?" he whispered out loud, lifting his head and staring desperately at his laptop. "How did I know that?" He typed in 'Female Titan' into the search engine and clicked on the first result, scouring for the name. Nothing. He went back and looked at the second search result. Then the third. Then the fourth. And so on and so forth, looking through every page, trying to find out how he had known. He had to have read it somewhere and retained the information in the back of his mind.

But nothing was coming up. He knew all of the information already, knew everything the search brought up. None of them said her name, and there was no evidence that an Annie had ever been involved. He grabbed at his hair and let out an annoyed sound before standing up, closing the laptop and heading over to the history section of the library. He pulled out every book he knew mentioned the Female Titan and searched through them. Still nothing. He pulled out encyclopedias and looked at the pages that mentioned the Titan shifters. But of course no names were mentioned. He shut the huge book in exasperation and put it back.

Armin went back over to his laptop and opened it, typing in the name 'Annie' into the search engine. He got name definitions and the song that Eren had mentioned the other day, but nothing about the Female Titan. He slammed his laptop shut and buried his face in his hands once more, trying to calm himself down. He couldn't lose his cool now, not when everyone was already starting to get worried about him. He dropped his hands, keeping his eyes closed as he did his best to try to remember.

"How did I know that?..."

* * *

By the time Armin headed back to his dorm room, it was well past midnight. He tiptoed down the hall and did his best to be quiet as he unlocked the door and slipped in. The room was dark, which meant Eren must be asleep. He let out a relieved sigh and turned around-

-only to be greeted with the lamp being turned on, Eren sitting on his bed.

"It's late. Where have you been?"

"The library, like I told you." Armin frowned as he went over to his bed, sitting down and taking his laptop out. "You didn't have to wait up for me, Eren. I know you have class in the morning."

"Dude, you're never out this late." Eren looked over at the blond, his eyebrows scrunched together with concern. "You've been acting really weird lately. Are you okay?"

Armin sighed and leaned back against the headboard of the bed, setting his laptop on his knees as he typed into the search bar once more. "I'm fine, I told you that. I'm just really concerned about midterms his semester."

It was a lie, and a bad one, but he hoped that Eren would take the hint and just let it be.

Unfornately for him, his friend had no intention of doing that tonight. "Connie dropped by. He wanted to know why you were in the library so late, and he was worried that he'd pissed you off somehow."

Armin shrugged, not giving a verbal response as he looked through the search results.

Eren turned to his friend, frowning. "He also told me about what happened in your class today. About Annie."

His fingers froze over the keyboard, though he made no move to reply.

"Dude..." The other boy leaned over towards his friend, his expression searching. "What is going on? You can tell me, Armin, we've been best friends since we were five! I know I've been spending a lot of time with Mikasa lately and I'm sorry if you've felt, like...abandoned or something." He reached over to grip Armin's shoulder. "But I'm not gonna let you go through...whatever this is alone. Okay?"

Armin slowly turned his head to look at his friend, blinking quickly to keep in the tears that wanted to leak out of his eyes. He felt pathetic for crying right now, but it felt really nice to know that he wasn't alone. Eren had always been by his side...but he just got the feeling that he couldn't tell him. Not yet.

He reached up to put his hand over Eren's, giving him the best smile he could muster up. "Thank you. I really appreciate that." He let his hand drop and shrugged the hand off of his shoulder. "I can't tell you what's wrong...at least, not yet. But I should be able to soon. I swear, as soon as I figure out what it is, you'll be the first to know."

Eren searched Armin's face then nodded slowly, his shoulders relaxing. "Alright. Just know that you aren't alone." He reached over to turn the lamp off and laid down on his bed, pulling the covers over him. "Don't stay up too late, we both have class in the morning." It wasn't long before his soft snores filled the silene of the room.

Armin sighed and turned his laptop off, shutting it and setting it aside as he eased himself back down to his own bed. He closed his eyes, his mind starting to wind down from his thoughts, though one last one went through his head before he fell asleep.

 _Annie...how do I know you?...  
_

* * *

He regretted his late night during his 9am class, though luckily for him it was only an hour long. He stumbled out of the class and rubbed his eyes, looking up at the sky. It didn't help that the sky was overcast with dark clouds, the sun nowhere in sight. He frowned and adjusted his bag on his shoulders, heading for the library. He had already spend so much time there, but he knew that his search wasn't over yet. He planned on asking the librarian about his problem, see if she could give him any books to help him out with his problem.

He was reaching for the door when a hand suddenly caught his arm, yanking him around. "Wha-!" He almost lost his balance, barely getting his footing back when the hand let go of him. "Hey-!" Then he stopped and blinked at the person in front of him.

She was the prettiest girl he had ever laid eyes on, with short blonde hair a few shades lighter than his own, pinned to the back of her head in a bun. She was short, no more than 153 cm. She was pale, with a thin figure but curves in all the right places-not that he was looking. The only thing that really stood out about her was her nose, which was bigger than most but he thought that it suited her.

And her eyes...her ice-colored eyes that were staring into his own, searching for...something. His heart skipped a beat as their eyes met, seeming to search his very soul. He felt as if she could see right into the very core of his being and come out with all of the answers she was looking for.

"C-can I help you?" he asked, silently cursing at himself for stuttering in front of her. Why did his powers of speech always have to fail him when he needed them most?

The girl reached up to push her bangs out of her face, though they just fell back into place again. He felt an overpowering urge to reach up and brush them aside for her, though he managed to contain himself. He didn't want her to think that he was some sort of pervert, not when he was just meeting her.

She looked at him, studying him from his feet to his head before looking into his eyes once more. He noted that she looked almost...desperate.

"Do you know me?"


	4. Chapter 3: Proof It's Not a Dream

**Pairing: AruAni**

 **Rating: T (for language and violence)**

 **Setting: Modern Day Reincarnation AU**

 **Summary: Armin Arlert is a boy who has searched his whole life for something–or someone–he knows is missing in his life. Annie Leonhardt has been searching for just one person her whole life. A chance encounter makes them realize that they are the ones the other needs. Memories will be shared and questions answered, but one remains: Will they get to keep each other this time around?**

 **Notes: I've had this chapter written for a couple of days now, but I decided to wait to post it. I like to think that this chapter marks where the real plot of the story begins. This chapter is also cheesy as f*ck, just to warn you guys. Like seriously, it was almost embarrassing to write. XD But I hope you all enjoy it, because I really liked writing it.**

Calls Me Home

 **Chapter 3: Proof It's Not a Dream**

"Do _you know me?"_

The question hit him like a ton of bricks, and for a moment Armin couldn't breathe. The answer was simple, one that should have come out of his mouth automatically. No, he didn't know her, he had never seen her before in his life. He was sure that he would have remembered coming across the loveliest girl he had ever seen.

Yet...those eyes...she seemed so familiar, yet he couldn't place his finger on why. And it was driving him insane right now, especially as he realized that he was just staring at her and had been for at least a minute. If this had been a regular situation, she probably would have called him a pervert and walked away. But...this wasn't something normal. Someone coming up to him and asking him such an obvious yet obscure question was in no way normal.

Did he know her? No, but he felt like he should. His mind was screaming at him to just say no already, give the girl an answer because this was just getting more and more awkward by the second.

But his heart...his heart ached to tell her yes, to tell her that he had missed her and needed her and to never leave his side again.

 _Wait...again?_

He slowly shook his head, though his eyes never left hers. "No...I'm sorry, I don't."

Her reaction made his heart break a little, watching her seem to completely wilt under his gaze, her shoulders going limp and the light in her eyes start to die out. She turned her head and those eyes were lost to his sight, and he found himself longing to see them once more. She sighed and reached up to pushing a lock of hair behind her ear, still refusing to look at him. "I'm sorry for wasting your time." She started to turn to walk away.

And as she did, panic started to grip Armin, and without thinking his hand shot out to grab her wrist. "Wait-!"

She stopped and her head turned sharply to look at him, ice-colored eyes wide as she stared at him once more.

He realized that he had no idea what to say, nor did he know why he had grabbed her. It made no sense, honestly, and his mind screamed at him to just let her go. But his heart...once again it was in conflict with his mind. His heart wanted him to pull her closer and wrap her in his arms, to never let her go and keep her there.

But that wasn't right. He had just met her, and no matter how beautiful he thought her to be-and he did think that she was absolutely beautiful-he couldn't force her to stay with him. She was a stranger to him, it just wasn't logical!

Yet...

Armin opened his mouth, intent on apologizing for grabbing her, and for upsetting her. He wanted to ask her why she had grabbed him in the first place, who she had thought he was. He wanted to know what was going on in her mind to make her come to him at all.

But the words that left his mouth left him confused with himself...yet they felt so familiar on his tongue...

 _"Why did you do it?"_

What did that even mean? Was he asking her why she had grabbed him? Or why she had come up to him at all? He wracked his brain for answers but he was coming up blank.

He looked at her to try to take it back when he noticed her slowly turning her head to look at him. Those enchanting eyes were looking at him, searching his face, his own blue orbs for...something. He found that his heart was aching to try to understand what it was that she wanted from him, wanting to know what it was that she wanted to see in him.

Then she spoke.

 _"I wanted to be reborn..."_

The words hit him and once again he felt like he couldn't breathe. His grip on her wrist went slack, and his arm fell to his side once more. His eyes went wide, glazed over, staring out at the distance at nothing.

He knew those words.

They had been spoken to him before he had been dragged away from her in that underground prison, being denied those ten minutes he had begged for days for.

They had been the last thing he had heard from her lips, her reasoning for abandoning her crystal and coming back to the real world, even though she had known that it would mean her death.

Armin felt his legs give out from under him and he fell to his knees, memories that he had never seen before flashing right before his eyes.

 _The walls were falling, they joined the military to make a difference, the walls fell again, Eren was eaten right in front of him oh god how would he tell Mikasa, but now Eren was a titan and he was their last hope, the Female Titan had spared his life why had she done that, oh god she was Annie Annie ANNIE-_

 _They were going to kill Annie and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it-_

 _She had written a letter, she had written him a letter-_

 _"Look for me in the next life..."_

"Armin?"

The blond boy gasped as his head jerked up, looking around desperate for the girl, the one who had begged him to look for her, oh god _how could he have forgotten?_

"Armin? Are you okay?"

He looked up and saw Connie and Sasha knelt down in front of him, their eyes filled with concern. And it made his heart ache a little, because they had been there too, before-when the Titans had still been around and they lived like caged birds behind the walls.

God, how had he forgotten...?

"Wh-where is she?" he croaked out, looking around for her, for the one his heart was screaming at him to find.

"Where's who?" Sasha tilted her head to the side as she and Connie helped Armin to his feet. "Armin, are you okay? What's going on?"

The blond boy just shook his head and gently shoved them away from him before taking off down the concrete path, trying his best to not fall in his hurry to find her again. He had to tell her that he remembered now, to let her know how sorry he was for taking so long to find her, to tell her that yes, yes he knew her.

 _Annie...!_

He ran and ran, searching for her, his eyes wide and his chest heaving to try to get enough oxygen into his lungs. But he couldn't find her...and he had no idea where she was. The college campus was huge, and who knew how long it would take him to search for her in every nook and crany the school had.

Exhaustion took over him and he fell to his knees once more, just barely managing to catch himself on his hands to keep from falling onto his front. He panted, trying to get air into his chest as his mind whirled.

He had lost her...he had lost her again...he squeezed his eyes shut tightly, trying to keep from crying as pain shot through his heart. How could he just let her go again? He had finally found the one thing-nay, the one PERSON-that had been always been missing from his life and he had just let her go.

Pathetic...he was so pathetic...so weak.

"Annie..."

Those ice-colored eyes...those eyes that had always been able to see right through him, see straight into his soul and see just how much he had always cared about her. That was why he had waited so long to report her, after all. He had never wanted to believe that she was so terrible, that she had been the one to betray humanity like that.

 _"Annie...!"_

He lifted his hands to bury his face in them, feeling himself starting to tremble all over. Why...why had he let this happen? How could he be so stupid?

He dropped his hands from his face and tilted his head back, bellowing out his pain for the worlds to hear.

"ANNIE!"

He dropped his head back and reached up one hand to grip his hair, letting out a bitter laugh. He felt like he had lost everything now, everything that had been holding him together, so what was the point? What was the point of anything-?

"Do you know me?"

He gasped and jerked his head up to stare. "Annie..."

The girl was standing before him, her arms crossed under her chest, staring down at him with those piercing eyes. He could tell that she was trying hard to be nonchalant about all of this, but he could see the red that rimmed her eyes, like she had been crying.

He scrambled to his feet, shaking so hard that he almost fell over again. But he was determined not to let her get away from him. He stared at her, almost unable to believe that she was there. He had thought that he had lost her...

She stared back at him, starting to blink faster, a clear sign that she was upset. He saw her fists shaking where she held them against her body, and her pink lips were trembling. She looked up into his eyes, her eyes desperate for an answer.

"Do you know me?"

He swallowed hard and slowly, ever so slowly, nodded. He wanted to reach out and pull her into his arms, but he wasn't sure if that would help or hurt her more right now. "Yes," he breathed, unable to take his eyes off of her. "Yes, I know you. I'm so sorry I took so long."

 _I'm sorry I didn't find you sooner._

Her shoulders slumped and one of her small hands was shaking as she reached out to grip the front of his shirt. He didn't dare move as she stepped closer to him, her head hanging so that her eyes were hidden from him. "Thank god," he heard her whisper, her voice starting to break. "Thank god..."

Armin couldn't help himself anymore, and he reached up both hands to cup her face, tilting her head back so that he could look at her face. Her eyes were closed, but he could see the tears lingering on her long blonde eyelashes. He wanted so badly to kiss her at that moment, and when she opened her wet eyes to look at him he almost did.

But then he heard the whispers of people around them and realized with a hot blush that they had probably caused quite the scene. He gulped and dropped his hands from her face, instead grabbing her hand. "We probably shouldn't do this here," he murmured low, only loud enough for her to hear him.

Annie nodded in agreement, and he could see her cheeks turning bright pink in a blush. He bit his lip as he tried to think of somewhere for them to go to talk in private, and the only place he could think of was his dorm room. But would it be too forward of him to invite her there after only just meeting her again. He looked over at her and decided to throw caution to the wind as he watched her reach up a hand to wipe at her eyes.

He started to lead her away, and he smiled when he felt her intertwine their fingers. "We have a lot to talk about," she said quietly, looking up at him.

He nodded, giving her hand a soft squeeze. "Yeah, we do." 

* * *

Armin never made it to his other classes that day.

He and Annie went back to his dorm room and sat down on his bed, and they just talked. Annie told him that she had first remembered him when she was only four years old. She had she had seen him in a dream and at the time she was so young that she couldn't distinguish reality from dreams, so she thought he was someone from her pre-school that she played with. It wasn't until years later that she had realized that she had never met him.

She told him that she had remembered everything when she was eighteen, one night when she had been at a party. She had been drunk and gotten into a fight with someone and had almost been pushed into a pool. She wasn't sure why that had triggered her memories to come back, but it had. She had gone home right after that and cried over her toilet as she got sick.

Armin tried to ask her about her parents, to try to find out more about how she was in this life, but she wouldn't say much. All he got out of her was that her mother had died when she was young and her father lived an hour away from the campus. She had her own apartment not too far from the school and usually went to work right after her classes ended. Which, he supposed, explained why he hadn't seen her before, especially since their schedules didn't match up at all.

Somewhere during their talk they had both ended up laying on their backs on his bed, and their hands had wandered across the mattress until their fingers could link together. The urge to take her into his arms was so strong that his chest felt tight, but he didn't want to scare her off right after he had found her. Plus, if she was anything like she had been in their past life, she probably didn't like to be touched much. So holding her hand would have to do.

"I've been searching for you my whole life," she finally admitted, turning on her side to look at him, her ice-colored eyes tracing over his features. "I had almost given up hope at the beginning of the semester."

Armin turned on his side so that he could face her, his fingers tightening around hers. "I'm glad you didn't," he told her softly, looking tenderly into her eyes.

Her long eyelashes fluttered, light pink coloring her cheeks and over the bridge of her nose. She was so cute in that moment that his breath caught in his throat, and he wanted so badly to just lean forward and kiss her. But he held himself back, because it was too soon, much too soon. They had just found each other again and he would not risk this relationship by moving too fast.

Her other hand reached out to hold his hand as well, and he watched as she played with his fingers. "You're not so different in this life," he heard her murmur, and his eyes went back to her face. She wasn't looking at him but at their hands, her bangs hiding her eyes from him once more.

"How so?" he asked, tilting his head to the side.

She glanced up at him and he swore he saw her blush darken before she ducked her head down again. "You're soft." She bit her lip and he felt her hands tighten on his. "I mean-I'm not saying you're weak. You never were, despite what you thought. You were strong in your way. But..." She glanced up at him once more and this time she didn't look away. "You always wanted to see the good in people...even me. Even after you knew who I was, what I was, you wanted to believe that I was a good person."

"Because I cared about you," he told her, his other hand going up to carefully push some of her hair out of her face. "You were always special to me, Annie. You were so strong, but I knew next to nothing about you. But you had the same look in your eyes that I had seen in Eren and Mikasa."

"And what look was that?"

"Broken." He bit the inside of his cheek, hoping she wouldn't take it the wrong way.

Her eyes slowly closed, leaning into his gentle touch, and his heart swelled with joy at the simple action. "Maybe you were right," she said, her voice low and quiet. "Maybe something in me was broken...perhaps that's why I was able to shift and not feel anything."

"That's not what I meant," he argued, his brows furrowing and his mouth turning down in a frown.

She sighed and opened her eyes, and he felt his chest tighten once more at the dead look in her eyes. The one he had seen so many times...the one that she'd had when he went to visit her in the prison...

"Annie..." Unable to help himself, he let go of her hands and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his chest. He felt her tense up for just a moment before she relaxed into him, her hands sliding up to rest on his shoulders. She lifted her head to look at him and relief flooded his heart when he saw that her eyes were lit up once more. He pressed his forehead to hers, letting a breath leave him as his eyes fluttered shut.

The two of them just laid there like that for a few moments in silence, holding onto one another. No words were needed at that moment, because neither of them felt the need to speak.

Armin shifted so that one arm was under his pillow with her head resting on it. The other was wrapped around her thin waist, holding her close to his body. One of her hands remained on his shoulder while the other drifted down to trace lazy circles over his hip. The action caused him to shiver and pull her even closer, almost no room between their bodies.

"Did we ever have any other lives besides the Titans?" Armin asked her, curiosity filling his mind.

He felt her nod against his chest. "Yes. Many."

"Were we ever able to be together in any of them?"

He heard a low chuckle leave her lips. "Yes. We were usually able to find each other."

The thought made him smile, and he leaned down to bury his nose in her hair. "I don't remember them yet...our other lives. But I'm glad we were able to be happy."

The hand on his hip stilled, and he opened his eyes to look down at her. She had tensed once more and started to pull away from him, but he held her tight so that she would not be able to go far. "Annie? What's wrong?"

She slowly lifted her head to look at him, and he found that he was unable to read the look in her eyes. "We weren't always happy in our other lives, Armin."

His heart ached at her words, but something deep down in him told him that she was right...and that he knew it. "What happened?"

She sighed and leaned forward to press her forehead to his collarbones, her hands sliding around to rest on his chest. "We would be together for a while then one of us would die. We were never able to be happy for long."

Air suddenly left his lungs and for a moment he couldn't remember how to breathe. "How...how would it happen?"

"Lots of different ways." Annie's fingers bunched up in the fabric of his shirt. "But it was almost always you..." He wasn't sure, but he was swore he heard her sniffle. "I've had to watch you die so many times..."

Armin wrapped both arms around her and pulled her tight against his body, determination rising up inside of him. "It won't happen again. I swear it. I won't let this life end in tragedy."

She stilled for just a moment before her hands slid up his chest to wrap her arms around his neck. "Okay." He could tell that she didn't believe him just yet, but he was deteremined to make sure to keep his words.

He wouldn't let them be miserable in this life.


	5. Chapter 4: Your Head Upon My Shoulder

**Notes: This chapter fought me for awhile until I decided to change a plot point and then it finally flowed pretty smoothly. A lot of this is just filler fluff that I wanted to write for myself before I jump into the drama that I have planned. Also shout out to jellyjay for beta-ing this chapter for me.**

 **Chapter 4: With Your Head Upon My Shoulder**

Armin felt the warmth hit his face first and he let out a groan, turning his head to bury his nose in the soft hair spread across his pillow. His arms tightened around the body pressed to his, and he couldn't help the smile that spread across his lips.

 _Wait...what?_

He blinked. Annie was still in his arms, face pressed against his neck with her hands resting gently against his chest. He had an arm pillowed under her head, and his other was wrapped snugly around her waist as if it belonged there. His heart was thumping loud in his chest as the realization of it all really sunk in.

 _Annie..._

He smiled and closed his eyes again, nuzzling his nose into her hair as he let out a content sigh. He'd begun to think that yesterday was just wishful thinking, or perhaps even another dream...but...it had been real.

 _T_ _his_ was _real_.

Annie was here, in his arms, and they had even accidentally fallen asleep together and his heart felt so full right now he thought that it might burst.

He felt her shift and opened his eyes to glance down at her. She yawned as her ice-colored eyes slowly opened, her gaze still cloudy with sleep. He watched her eyes come back into focus and she saw him, and the smile that slowly spread on her lips made his breath catch in his throat. "Hey," he whispered, his cheeks feeling warm.

"Hey," she replied back, trying and failing to hold back a yawn. She lifted one hand to rub at her eyes while the other trailed up his chest to cup the side of his neck. He leaned into her touch, his eyes soft as he just gazed down at her.

Annie lifted her head and looked around before chuckling and sitting up, stretching. "We fell asleep."

A chuckle left Armin's throat as he stretched out beside her on the bed, before rolling onto his back and smiling up at her. "Yeah, we did." He wanted to pull her back down on the bed beside him but he didn't dare. This was all so new to him, he wasn't sure how to go about it. He hadn't dated since high school, and even then it had never been anthing serious. He wasn't even sure what this was.

The girl let out another yawn and flopped back down on the bed, curling into his side and resting her head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her as his other hand met hers on his chest. His lips tipped up in a smile when he felt her link her fingers with his.

"Do you work today?" he asked her, rubbing her shoulder gently with his thumb.

He felt rather than saw her shake her head. "No. My bosses let me have the weekends off so that I can study."

"That's nice of them..." Armin pressed his cheek to her head and closed his eyes, feeling his whole body relax when he felt her fingers trace over his hand. "This is nice."

"Very nice," she agreed, looking up at him with a tiny smile. She moved her hand up to touch his cheek with her fingertips, her eyes staring up into his own. "I'm glad it could come to this."

He nodded slowly, his eyes never leaving hers. In all of his memories, her eyes had always seemed so dull, filled with apathy. But now...now they were bright, warm, filled with so many emotions that it made his chest seize. He raised his own hand to cup her face. Her eyelashes fluttered and he saw her start to slowly lean towards him. His mind raced and his heart fluttered, but he couldn't stop his own eyes from slowly closing. He could feel her breath on his lips and he tried to prepare himself for what was to come-

"Armin! Dude, what happened?! Connie texted me and said you went and made a big scene on campus and-! Whoa..."

 _Of course._ Armin sighed and opened his eyes, turning his head to see his roommate and Mikasa standing in the doorway. Eren's eyes were practically bulging and his jaw was slack as he stared at the blond boy and girl laying on the bed.

A slow smirk started to break out on the green-eyed boy's face, and his arms crossed over his chest. "I'm sorry, did we interrupt something?"

"Yes, you did," Annie said sourly, sitting up and glaring at Eren.

Armin sat up as well, his chest tightening up with the anxiety rising in his heart. "Annie..."

Luckily for them Eren just started to laugh, stepping into the room and going over to wrap an arm around Armin's neck, giving him a noogie. "You sly dog! Is this why you didn't answer any of my texts last night?"

Armin protested weakly, but when he glanced over at his phone he noticed the blue light in the corner blinking, signaling that he did, indeed, have unanswered texts. He hadn't even thought to look at his phone the night before, having been too wrapped up in talking to Annie. "Nothing happened!" he whined pitifully, trying and failing to break out of Eren's hold. "We were just talking!"

"Uh huh, sure," Eren rolled his eyes, letting go of his best friend before offering his hand to the girl beside Armin. "I'm Eren." He jerked his thumb in the direction of his girlfriend, who was still standing in the doorway. "That's Mikasa."

Armin glanced over at Annie, worried about how she would react. He could tell that she was very wary of his best friend, and he knew her memories of their first life would do nothing to help ease her worries. But he let out a silent sigh of relief when she firmly took hold of Eren's hand, giving it one shake before immediately letting go. "Annie."

Eren's eyes went wide and he glanced over at Armin, who gave him a pleading look. Now was not the time for any kind of confrontation, though he knew he was going to be interrogated later on. Especially from how worried his friends had been for him with his obsession with the Annie from his dreams. But he seemed to be willing to let it go for now.

"Nice to meet you, Annie. It's nice to see that Armin finally found himself a girl." He looked over at the blond boy, his eyes glinting with mischievous intentions. "You know, I was starting to think that he was asexual. Or gay."

"Eren," Mikasa scolded her boyfriend as Armin's face turned a bright shade of red. Of course Eren would bring that up now. The brunet loved to embarrass the blond in situations like this, and Armin knew that he would have to return the favor later on.

He stood up and started to push Eren away from the bed, trying to put some distance between his best friend and Annie. "Alright, was there something you needed? Besides trying to ruin my reputation?"

"I would never!" But the words didn't mean much with Eren snickering and about to burst into laughter. "I just wanted to check on you, since you didn't answer me last night. But now I see why you didn't." He looked over Armin's shoulder at Annie and smirked again.

Armin gave his best friend a shove, feeling his face getting hot again. "I'm sorry, okay? We fell asleep pretty early, so I didn't hear my phone go off. I'll try to remember it next time so you won't have to be worried."

"Okay, okay." Eren patted Armin's shoulder before giving him a serious look. "We do need to talk later, though. Connie and Sasha were pretty worried by whatever happened."

Armin sighed and nodded, knowing that he would have to explain it all eventually. But really, what could he say that wouldn't make him sound crazy? How do you tell your best friend about a past life, one with Titans, and about a girl you had slowly been falling in love with but hadn't even known it until it was too late? How could he explain any of this without seeming like he had completely lost his mind? He wasn't sure...but he couldn't just leave all of his friends worried about his mental state with no justification for his actions.

 _I'll figure it out later._

"Yeah, we'll talk," he muttered, glancing over his shoulder to Annie, whom he could tell was doing her best to seem apathetic about everything.

Eren nodded then reached behind him to take Mikasa's hand. "Well, we're gonna head out. I'll see you tonight, okay?" He and Armin exchanged fist bumps before the couple walked away, murmuring to each other.

Armin closed the door and sighed, running a hand over his face. This was going to be difficult.

"Armin?" He felt a hand on his back and figured Annie must have gotten up after Eren and Mikasa had left. "What are you going to tell him?"

"I have no idea." He turned to look at her, a little surprised to see sympathy lingering in her ice-colored eyes. He rubbed back of his neck awkwardly and let out another sigh. "They don't remember, Annie."

She nodded, crossing her arms over her chest. "And it's probably best if it remains that way."

He nodded as well. He remembered how upset Eren had been when he'd found out that Annie was the Female Titan, remembered the look of betrayal on his best friend's face from all those years ago. He knew that Mikasa had never really forgiven Annie for hurting them all. If they got their memories from that life back, there was a high chance of that grudge carrying over into this life. And the last thing he wanted was to have to choose between them and Annie.

He was so deep in thoughts that he didn't notice that Annie had gone back over to his bed. He finally snapped out of it when she spoke. "I should probably get going, actually. I have to get home and feed Crackers."

He blinked. "Crackers?"

She glanced over at him and nodded. "My cat." She grabbed her phone and stuck it in the front pocket of her hoodie, adjusting her clothes and smoothing them down.

"You have a cat?" He hadn't picked her for a cat person, but now that he thought about it, it made sense. Still...he was sad to see her go so soon. "So...I guess I'll see you later?"

"Unless you want to come with me." She didn't look at him when she said that, but he could see her cheeks turning the lightest shade of pink. "My apartment's not that far from here, and my car's still in the parking lot."

He gulped and nodded, his heart light with elation. "Sure! I mean, yeah, I-I'd like to see where you live. To see what it looks like! Not because I'd, like-" Crap, he was rambling now.

Annie chuckled and looked at him, her eyes light with humor. "I knew what you meant, don't worry." She made her way back over to him and took his hand in hers, linking their fingers. "Shall we go?"

He nodded, unable to keep the smile off of his own face. "Yeah."

* * *

"Crackers, I'm home!" Annie called out as she led Armin into her apartment. It was a small complex about ten minutes away from the campus, and hers was on the ground floor.

He looked around. It wasn't big, but it was fully furnished with a kitchen, a full bathroom, and two rooms. Annie didn't have much, but what she did have she obviously took care of and had made it a home for herself. She didn't have a lot of pictures hung up, and those that were were mostly of herself and a cat, which he assumed to be Crackers.

He heard a loud meow and the tingling of a little bell, and a pretty gray tabby she-cat came bounding down the hall. Annie knelt down and the cat jumped straight into her arms, the purr that sounded from the little cat the loudest Armin had ever heard.

Annie stood up as she cooed over her cat, and it was honestly about the cutest thing that Armin had ever seen in quite some time. Who knew that Annie Leonhardt, once the feared Female Titan, had such a soft spot for cats?

She turned her head to look at him and her cheeks turned bright red in a blush. She looked away with a huff, though she continued to hold her cat tenderly to her chest. She walked towards her kitchen, setting the cat on the floor before opening her fridge. "Do you want anything to eat? Or drink?"

"No, thank you," he called back to her, taking off his shoes and wandering around her living room. He noticed a picture on her entertainment center and picked it up, his eyebrows raising.

It was a picture of a young Annie, that much was obvious from the shape of her nose and her ice-colored eyes. She had a medal around her neck, and a huge smile on her lips. There was a man and a woman on either side of her, her mother and father he assumed. He couldn't help the smile that broke out on his lips as he gazed at he picture, his thumb running over her image. She just looked so happy...

A hand suddenly appeared in his line of vision, snatching the picture from his grasp. He blinked and turned his head to see Annie walking over to her computer desk. She opened one of the drawers and set the picture in it before closing it again.

Armin bit his lip and rubbed his arm, feeling like he had just invaded her privacy or something. "Ah...sorry."

"It's fine." She pushed some hair out of her face and looked over at him, her eyes guarded and her shoulders squared. "Make yourself at home. I put a pot on the stove for some tea, I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all." He took a seat on her couch, not sure what else to do. Crackers jumped up on the couch beside him, nudging his hand with her head until he scratched behind her ears, earning a loud purr from the cat. He couldn't help the smile that spread on his lips and he went to pull the cat onto his lap, but she suddenly flinched away and jumped down, darting away to hide. "Ah..." He blinked.

"Don't mind her," Annie assured him, taking a seat on the couch beside him. "She gets startled easily. She's a rescue, she came from a bad homelife." She kicked off her shoes before drawing her legs up under her, settling comfortably into the couch beside him. She seemed so much more comfortable in her own home, Armin observed. It made him smile.

"It was good of you to take her in," he told her kindly,reaching slowly across the empty space between them.

She noticed and reached out to link their fingers once more, scooting closer to him until her hip was touching his. "I had gone to the pet store to get a fish and came back with a cat." She chuckled softly, running her thumb gently over the palm of his hand. "She was with a rescue group, and she looked so sad just sitting the metal cage. But as soon as she saw me she started meowing, and she didn't stop until she was in my arms." She leaned her head against his shoulder. "Sometimes pets chose their people, and she choose me."

He smiled as he leaned his head against hers, running his thumb over her fingers. She was slowly, but surely, opening up to him and he was enjoying every second of it. He knew that the memory of her getting her cat, though it would seem silly to others, was something she wouldn't tell to just anyone. It was an intimate detail of her life and she was sharing it with him. It made him really happy...

He felt her shift and she let go of his hand, drawing his arm up and around her shoulders as she settled herself against him. She leaned forward to grab the remote to the TV and turned it on, flicking through the channels until he pointed out an old movie he had been meaning to watch. She set the remote down and they both settled back into the couch, and he found the whole thing so surreal, to be sitting on the couch of the girl he had been searching for and to have his arm wrapped around her like they had been doing this their whole lives. It was nice...it was so nice and he found himself hoping that the day would never end...


End file.
